45 Hours
by ladybug114
Summary: When Stiles is kidnapped by a group of rogue hunters, Scott will do anything to find him. No matter how long it takes. (No slash)


**A/N: This is an answer to a prompt from the wonderful Taylormh98. Hope you all enjoy!**

 _Rrrring… Rrrring…_

Scott flailed as he heard his phone ring, grabbing it instantly and looking at the screen, practically holding his breath. When he saw the face looking up at him, he breathed in relief.

"Allison," Scott said, hopeful but frantic, "Please tell me you have something."

"I have something," she responded, sounding grave, "but it's not good." Allison paused, and Scott waited with bated breath. "My dad got word of a group of hunters in the area," she finished finally.

Scott swallowed. "Hunters like you and your dad, or…"

"Hunters worse than Kate," Allison answered bluntly, no hope in her voice at all. "We can probably locate where they're staying, but it will probably take a couple days. And at that point…"

 _At that point, it could be too late,_ Scott finished in his head, but he didn't say it out loud. "It's been 22 hours since we saw him last," Scott reminded her, voice quiet and broken.

"I know," Allison answered sadly. "We'll find him, Scott. I promise." With that, the line went dead.

Scott dropped his phone onto the bed beside him, putting his head in his hands. Not for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do. 21 hours ago, Stiles was supposed to come over to his house to work on a history project. He hadn't shown up. 20 hours ago, Scott had called the sheriff, asking if he knew where Stiles was. He didn't. 18 hours ago, Scott had finished searching the entire Stilinski house, looking for any clue that could tell him where Stiles was. He found nothing. 16 hours ago, he had walked along the entire road from Stiles' house to his own. Stiles' jeep was parked on the side of the road about halfway between the two houses, but there was nothing else.

Since then, Scott had called Derek, who couldn't find anything, and Allison, who talked to her dad. Knowing that there were violent, possibly psychotic, hunters in the area didn't calm Scott down at all, even though he knew that they now had a lead.

Derek had warned Scott that word would eventually get out about him being a "true alpha," and that it would make Beacon Hills even more of a beacon than ever before. Chances were, these hunters that Chris learned about were after him. Stiles was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes Scott hated himself for dragging his very human friend with him on all his adventures, but he knew that Stiles wouldn't have it any other way. The two of them were there for each other no matter what, and they told each other everything.

That, according to Derek, was the problem. Stiles knew everything about Scott. With sufficient persuasion, Derek said, hunters could convince Stiles to spill all of his secrets on Scott and the rest of the pack.

While Scott shuddered at the thought of Stiles being 'persuaded' to do anything, he also knew that Derek was wrong. "Stiles will not give anything away," he had insisted, 20 hours ago.

"You may think so," Derek had responded, face serious, "but you don't know what hunters are capable of. Many of them won't even care that Stiles is only human. They'll know that he has information, and they'll get it out of him."

Even now, knowing from Allison that Stiles might be in the hands of hunters as bad as Derek had described, Scott wasn't worried about his best friend giving anything away. He was terrified, of course, about what the hunters would do, and even hoped that Stiles _would_ give them up, if it would keep him safe. But at the same time, Scott knew that he never would.

TWTWTWTWTWTW

41 hours after Stiles had disappeared, Chris found the abandoned warehouse that the hunters had made into their base. 1 hour later, 42 hours after Stiles had climbed out of his jeep and not climbed back in, Scott, Derek, Allison, Isaac, and Chris burst into the warehouse, weapons drawn and claws and fangs extended.

At first glance, the place was empty. It was dark and musty, filled with tables and rusty tools. But Scott smelled a distinct scent of blood and fear, and knew that they had come to the right place.

Beside him, Derek was frozen. "Do you hear it?" he asked, voice quiet. "A heartbeat. Do you hear it, Scott?"

Scott shut his eyes, listening closely, and then his eyes shot open. "I hear it," he said, breathless. "It's faint, but I hear it." Scott frowned, realizing something. "Just one, though. The hunters must not be here."

Chris nodded. "That's probably for the best. Go find him, Scott. You look too, Derek. Allison, Isaac, and I can guard the door in case they return."

Scott nodded at him gratefully, and ran into the darkness of the enormous warehouse, following his ears and his nose.

Derek and Scott ran the entire length of the warehouse, but didn't find anything. Scott slammed his hand against the wall in frustration. "He _has_ to be here!" he shouted, looking at Derek in desperation.

Derek turned to face him, eyes hard but calm. "Use your senses, Scott. You heard him and you smelled him. He's here. Now find him."

Scott nodded and shut his eyes, focusing his senses. He followed the sound of a heartbeat to the center of the warehouse, where it was clearest, but still muffled. He frowned, looking around. There was nothing nearby for Stiles to be hidden in, no way for him to be there, but he _was_. Scott's head dropped in frustration, and he almost gasped. There, right below him, was an almost perfectly concealed trap door.

"Derek!" he shouted, calling the older werewolf over. "I found him!"

Derek jogged over, looking at the trap door and smiling at Scott. "Good work," he said, proudly. "Now let's get him out."

Scott bent down and pulled the trap door open, revealing a metal ladder that descended into darkness. "Let me go alone," he said, looking at Derek. "Who knows what he's been through in the last 42 hours?" Scott was terrified of what he would find at the bottom of the ladder, but he also knew that Stiles, if he was awake, would be even more terrified. So with a deep breath, Scott dropped into the hole and began climbing down the ladder.

Surprisingly enough, there was a light switch at the bottom of the hole, which was about 20 feet underground. Scott hesitated before turning it on, though, as the room was pitch black. He didn't want to startle Stiles, if the human was even awake. His heartbeat was clearer now, but it was still alarmingly sluggish. His breathing, too, didn't sound quite right.

"Stiles," Scott, whispered, "Stiles, can you hear me?"

The breathing sped up, but other than that, Scott didn't receive any confirmation.

"I'm going to turn the light on, okay?" he said, peering into the darkness, trying to see any sign of his best friend. After a second of silence, Scott reached over and flicked the switch.

He stumbled back at the sight that greeted him. Stiles was slumped in the corner, chained to a pole of some kind on the opposite side of the room, eyes closed. His shirt was missing, his skin was pale, his nose was bleeding, there were cuts on his arms and legs, his torso was bruised, and three of his fingers were bent the wrong way.

"God, Stiles," Scott breathed, feeling sick, "What did they do to you?" Cautiously, he made his way over to the wall where Stiles was slumped, kneeling down in front of him. "Stiles," he said, insistently. "Stiles, wake up."

Slowly, slowly, the human's eyes opened. He blinked once, and then frowned. "Sc'tt?" Stiles slurred, looking confused.

Scott allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah, Stiles. It's me. We're gonna get you out of here, okay?"

"Scott, I… didn't tell 'em. I didn't. I promise, Scott. Didn't tell 'em… anything." Stiles' eyes were starting to slip closed again, and his words were still slurring, but he spoke insistently. "I promise," he mumbled, eyes now fully closed as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Scott felt tears stinging his eyes as Stiles spoke. The human had obviously been tortured, and here he was, making sure Scott knew that he hadn't given anything up. "I know, Stiles," he whispered, even though he knew that his best friend couldn't hear him. "I know."

After that, there was a whirlwind of activity. Derek climbed into the hole, and together they pulled Stiles' limp body above ground. Chris drove them to the hospital, while Derek and Isaac stayed behind to clean up the evidence and to look for clues as to where the hunters had gone. Stiles was taken into surgery because of 3 cracked ribs, none of which, thankfully, had pierced his lungs.

3 hours after he had been rescued, 45 hours after he had been kidnapped, Stiles opened his eyes in a hospital bed to find Scott McCall asleep in the chair next to the bed. And he smiled, knowing that, even with a concussion and cracked ribs and a broken nose and fingers and cut up arms, he was safe.


End file.
